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How to use SQLAlchemy ORM to access Dynamics 365 Business Central Data in Python
Create Python applications and scripts that use SQLAlchemy Object-Relational Mappings of Dynamics 365 Business Central data.
The rich ecosystem of Python modules lets you get to work quickly and integrate your systems effectively. With the CData Python Connector for Dynamics 365 Business Central and the SQLAlchemy toolkit, you can build Dynamics 365 Business Central-connected Python applications and scripts. This article shows how to use SQLAlchemy to connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central data to query, update, delete, and insert Dynamics 365 Business Central data.
With built-in optimized data processing, the CData Python Connector offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Dynamics 365 Business Central data in Python. When you issue complex SQL queries from Dynamics 365 Business Central, the CData Connector pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Dynamics 365 Business Central and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations).
Connecting to Dynamics 365 Business Central Data
Connecting to Dynamics 365 Business Central data looks just like connecting to any relational data source. Create a connection string using the required connection properties. For this article, you will pass the connection string as a parameter to the create_engine function.
To authenticate to Dynamics 365 Business Central, you must provide the User and AccessKey properties.
To obtain the User and AccessKey values, navigate to the Users page in Dynamics 365 Business Central and then click on Edit. The User Name and Web Service Access Key values are what you will enter as the User and AccessKey connection string properties. Note that the User Name is not your email address. It is a shortened user name.
To connect to data, specify OrganizationUrl. If you have multiple companies in your organization, you must also specify the Company to indicate which company you would like to connect to. Company does not need to be specified if you have only one company.
Follow the procedure below to install SQLAlchemy and start accessing Dynamics 365 Business Central through Python objects.
Install Required Modules
Use the pip utility to install the SQLAlchemy toolkit and SQLAlchemy ORM package:
pip install sqlalchemy
pip install sqlalchemy.orm
Be sure to import the appropriate modules:
from sqlalchemy import create_engine, String, Column
from sqlalchemy.ext.declarative import declarative_base
from sqlalchemy.orm import sessionmaker
Model Dynamics 365 Business Central Data in Python
You can now connect with a connection string. Use the create_engine function to create an Engine for working with Dynamics 365 Business Central data.
NOTE: Users should URL encode the any connection string properties that include special characters. For more information, refer to the SQL Alchemy documentation.
engine = create_engine("d365businesscentral:///?OrganizationUrl=https://myaccount.financials.dynamics.com/")
Declare a Mapping Class for Dynamics 365 Business Central Data
After establishing the connection, declare a mapping class for the table you wish to model in the ORM (in this article, we will model the Accounts table). Use the sqlalchemy.ext.declarative.declarative_base function and create a new class with some or all of the fields (columns) defined.
base = declarative_base()
class Accounts(base):
__tablename__ = "Accounts"
accountid = Column(String,primary_key=True)
Name = Column(String)
...
Query Dynamics 365 Business Central Data
With the mapping class prepared, you can use a session object to query the data source. After binding the Engine to the session, provide the mapping class to the session query method.
Using the query Method
engine = create_engine("d365businesscentral:///?OrganizationUrl=https://myaccount.financials.dynamics.com/")
factory = sessionmaker(bind=engine)
session = factory()
for instance in session.query(Accounts).filter_by(Name="MyAccount"):
print("accountid: ", instance.accountid)
print("Name: ", instance.Name)
print("---------")
Alternatively, you can use the execute method with the appropriate table object. The code below works with an active session.
Using the execute Method
Accounts_table = Accounts.metadata.tables["Accounts"]
for instance in session.execute(Accounts_table.select().where(Accounts_table.c.Name == "MyAccount")):
print("accountid: ", instance.accountid)
print("Name: ", instance.Name)
print("---------")
For examples of more complex querying, including JOINs, aggregations, limits, and more, refer to the Help documentation for the extension.
Insert Dynamics 365 Business Central Data
To insert Dynamics 365 Business Central data, define an instance of the mapped class and add it to the active session. Call the commit function on the session to push all added instances to Dynamics 365 Business Central.
new_rec = Accounts(accountid="placeholder", Name="MyAccount")
session.add(new_rec)
session.commit()
Update Dynamics 365 Business Central Data
To update Dynamics 365 Business Central data, fetch the desired record(s) with a filter query. Then, modify the values of the fields and call the commit function on the session to push the modified record to Dynamics 365 Business Central.
updated_rec = session.query(Accounts).filter_by(SOME_ID_COLUMN="SOME_ID_VALUE").first()
updated_rec.Name = "MyAccount"
session.commit()
Delete Dynamics 365 Business Central Data
To delete Dynamics 365 Business Central data, fetch the desired record(s) with a filter query. Then delete the record with the active session and call the commit function on the session to perform the delete operation on the provided records (rows).
deleted_rec = session.query(Accounts).filter_by(SOME_ID_COLUMN="SOME_ID_VALUE").first()
session.delete(deleted_rec)
session.commit()
Free Trial & More Information
Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData Python Connector for Dynamics 365 Business Central to start building Python apps and scripts with connectivity to Dynamics 365 Business Central data. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.
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